In many ways this introduction has
nothing to do with the photos it purports to introduce. I spent a
long time thinking about what I could write to accompany the
images, and the juxtaposition of various differentcommentaries
with the work invariably produced various differing ways in which
the work could be seen. A commentary at once closed down the
meaning of the photos by presenting them in a specific context,
and it also stretched their meaning by adding an extra dimension
to the way in which they were able to communicate.

Maybe it is inevitable that words
are needed to make explicit that which the camera only suggests.
But in part that is the subject of the work: to see the way in
which the city presents itself beyond the designs of its
inhabitants, without explanation or qualification; to notice the
patterns that appear in the structures and surface of the city
despite their overall design; to look at how the deserted city
projects itself and creates its own personality from the decay or
disintegration of its buildings; and how the constant cycle of
construction and reconstruction becomes itself the visual
interest in the landscape. And then also to see how this
perspective stands against the image purposefully placed on
display by its inhabitants.